Ilvops

Rose of Sharon

Variety Description

Variety used for comparison: 'ILVO347' (Orchid Satin)

Summary: The plant growth habit of 'Ilvops' is upright to semi-upright whereas the growth habit of 'ILVO347' is semi-upright to spreading. The petiole of 'Ilvops' is longer than the petiole of 'ILVO347'. The leaf blade of 'Ilvops' is larger than the leaf blade of 'ILVO347'. The length to width ratio of the leaf blade of 'Ilvops' is slightly elongated while that of 'ILVO347' is moderately elongated. The petal of 'Ilvops' is larger than the petal of 'ILVO347'. Relative to the petal, the eye zone of 'Ilvops' is small while the eye zone of 'ILVO347' is medium sized. The extensions of the eye zone on the inner side of the petal of 'Ilvops' are short while those of 'ILVO347' are medium to long.

Description:

PLANT: upright to semi-upright growth habit, sparse branching
CURRENT-YEAR-SHOOT: brownish (greyish)

LEAF BLADE: length to width ratio is slightly elongated, rounded base, medium green on upper side, medium depth lobing, absent or weak undulation of margin, medium number of incisions of margin, no variegation

FLOWER: single type
OUTERMOST PETAL: moderately ascending to horizontal attitude, touching or slightly overlapping arrangement
PETAL: moderately elongated, mainly light blue violet (RHS 76A) with darker tones of violet (RHS N78B-C) on inner side, absent or very weak incisions of margin, weak undulation
EYE ZONE: small relative to petal, short extensions, dark purple red (RHS 59B, 60A)

Origin & Breeding History: 'Ilvops' was developed by the breeder, Johan Van Huylenbroeck, an employee at the Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research, in Melle, Belgium. It originated from a cross made in 1998, in Melle, Belgium between a tetraploid seedling, 'Purple CV2', as the female parent variety, and the Hibiscus syriacus variety 'Floru' (Russian Violet), as the male parent. From the resulting progeny, 'Ilvops' was selected in 2001 based on its flower sterility, flower size and colour, and abundant flower production. 'Ilvops' was first asexually propagated by softwood cuttings in 2001 in Melle, Belgium.

Tests & Trials: The comparative trial of 'Ilvops' was conducted in an outdoor irrigated container trial during the spring and summer of 2018, at BioFlora Inc., in St. Thomas, Ontario. The trial included a total of 12 shrubs each of the candidate and reference variety. All shrubs were grown from 5.7 cm liners, planted into 9 litre containers on July 19, 2017. The plants were overwintered in an un-heated polyhouse. The observations and measurements were taken from 10 plants, or parts of plants, of each variety on July 11, 2018. All colour determinations were made using the 2007 Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Colour Chart.

Comparison tables for 'Ilvops' with reference variety 'ILVO347'

Petiole length (cm)

Leaf blade length (cm)

Leaf blade width (cm)

Petal length (cm)

Petal width (cm)

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Rose of Sharon: 'Ilvops' (left) with reference variety 'ILVO347' (right)

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Rose of Sharon: 'Ilvops' (left) with reference variety 'ILVO347' (right)

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Rose of Sharon: 'Ilvops' (left) with reference variety 'ILVO347' (right)